Friday, April 21, 2017

Documentary : Risen: The Story of Chron 'Hell Razah' Smith

"Wu Tang Clan affiliate Hell Razah has always been a celebrated MC, known for his sharp lyrics and intricate flow. A founding member of the group Sunz Of Man -- who cracked the Billboard Top 20 with their 1998 remake of Earth, Wind & Fire’s classic “Shining Star” alongside the band, Wyclef Jean and Ol’ Dirty Bastard -- Razah was discovered and mentored at age 14 by Wu Tang leader RZA and groomed for success. Later dubbed “Heaven Razah” when he went solo in the mid-2000s, the rising young MC made headlines when he was stricken with a brain aneurysm in 2010.

As a result of this tragedy, Hell Razah has spent the last 7 years slowly recovering from this near-fatal incident, which left him in a coma and unable to use the left side of his body. As Razah has been struggling to learn how to walk, talk, and rhyme again, filmmaker Frank Meyer has been documenting his journey every step of the way. The director and Hell Razah go way back, as Meyer was Sunz of Man’s publicist back in 1997, and later filmed Razah for his G4tv web series Freestyle 101, a series that also featured Ice-T, The Game, Mobb Deep, and Cypress Hill, and was recognized by Steve Jobs at an Apple conference. The resulting documentary film Risen: The Story of Chron “Hell Razah” Smith is the result of 7 years of filming, and 20 years of friendship.